{"id":2572,"date":"2011-04-27T17:37:02","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T00:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2011-04-27T17:40:41","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T00:40:41","slug":"recent-listening-lucky-strikes-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2011\/04\/recent-listening-lucky-strikes-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Listening: Lucky Strikes Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Byars, Lucky Strikes Again<\/em><\/a> (Steeplechase).
\n\"\"<\/a>This album by a gifted saxophonist, composer and arranger has several things to recommend it. <\/p>\n

\u00ef\u201a\u2014It presents 10 pieces written and arranged by Lucky Thompson (1924-2005), a saxophonist whose brilliance and originality as a player and writer failed to make him as well known as equally gifted contemporaries like Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Milt Jackson. Byars painstakingly transcribed most of the arrangements from recordings of a 1961 Thompson concert broadcast in Germany. Others, he arranged based on Thompson quartet records. Pieces like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Old Reliable,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Could I Meet You Later?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Another Whirl\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and other discoveries are substantial additions to known compositions by Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u00ef\u201a\u2014Byars\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 arrangements for an octet cast the tunes in the not-small, not-big format that offers tonal colors impossible in a quartet or quintet, with flexibility and subtlety difficult to achieve with the weight of a standard 15- or 16-piece big band. His sidemen include some of New York\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finest club and studio jazz musicians. Among them are trumpeter Scott Wendholt, alto saxophonist Zaid Nasser and trombonist John Mosca. Byars\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 own playing evidences affection for Thompson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, without indulgence in slavish imitation. His treatment of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just One More Chance,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a major Thompson recording, is impressive. <\/p>\n

\u00ef\u201a\u2014The music reflects lessons Thompson learned from his contemporary Tadd Dameron, an arranger whose work was a pervasive influence in jazz from the late forties to the mid-sixties and has never lost its freshness. As Mark Gardner points out in his interesting album notes, Dameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s example helped form Quincy Jones, Gigi Gryce, Benny Golson and Oscar Pettiford. With this work, Byars can claim a place in that line. He deserves credit for reminding listeners, by way of this stimulating collection, of Lucky Thompson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s importance.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Thompson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death six years ago, Rifftides<\/em> posted a summary of Thompson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s career and a guide to some of his recordings. To see it, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Byars, Lucky Strikes Again (Steeplechase). This album by a gifted saxophonist, composer and arranger has several things to recommend it. \u00ef\u201a\u2014It presents 10 pieces written and arranged by Lucky Thompson (1924-2005), a saxophonist whose brilliance and originality as a player and writer failed to make him as well known as equally gifted contemporaries like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}